My philosophy in life is that there is a book for everything I need to know about the human experience, it is just a matter of going out and looking for it. When I wanted to learn to meditate, when I wanted to dress better, or when I wanted to change my habits, my reflex was always the same: to go and look for books on these subjects. But sometimes the things you are looking for are subtler, like wanting to get along with others or feeling better about yourself. And I have always thought that when something bothers you, or when you just feel that something could be better, not only you have the option, it is your duty to take matters into your own hands and change the situation. That is why I’m in favor and I have no problem admitting that I like self-help books, as well as the “mindfulness” trend. But I also think that we need to expose ourselves more often to opinions different from our own, to understand the point of view of other people, if only to learn to be more tolerant. So, when I found out that there was a book written against self-help books, I went and read it.

“Stand Firm” by Sven dBrinkmann happens to be that book. By taking the codes of the genre it aims to confront, Brinkmann suggests 7 steps to get rid of the need to constantly improve yourself. He teaches us to “put on our ‘no’ hats”, to stop gazing constantly at our navels, to learn to be negative and to fire our “life-coaches”. If at first it sounds like a joke, Brinkmann actually refers to stoicism to show that there are better solutions for living than those of self-help. But what is more interesting is that it aims at taking off the mask of the real intentions of this genre.

Brinkmann explains that self-help is designed to adapt/surrender ourselves more easily to the “liquid modernity”, to the constantly changing state of current capitalist society. This idea that we have to constantly acquire and update our “competencies”, that we have to be ready to have jobs that will not last long, that “networking” is more important than friendships, that we are human merchandises that need to continually prove their worth. In this world, the truly revolutionary thing to do is not to try to change and improve, but simply to stay put and defend our right to be who we are, defects and all.

According to Brinkmann, self-help does not work and the proof is that every year more books of this kind are published. This is because the concepts in which self-help is based are wrong, such as the idea that you always have to be positive and that the answers to our problems lie within ourselves. On the contrary, what you must do is stop focusing on yourself and stop believing that introspection will solve matters for which you need information that is found outside. You need to change your perspective: stoicism teaches us that things could always be worse, that you must never forget that we are all mortals, and that more than living in the moment, you must always remember the lessons from the past. What’s more, you should stop reading self-help books and biographies as well, and replace them with fiction, with novels. Apparently, biographies make us believe that life is a linear path, and that we have more power than we believe it is the case. Literature is able to teach us that the world is more complex that we imagine it to be, and that an individual is subject to many external factors that shape his life.

I don’t agree with everything in “Stand Firm”, but I believe it has some valid points. For example, Brinkmann puts in the same category all self-help, mindfulness and even the new diets that are appearing these days. I believe that you should make distinctions, especially when scientific research has proven that meditation has many benefits. The problem is that even the most useful things end up being oriented to marketable purposes, like when they tell you that meditating makes your more productive at work. As for diets, I believe it is logic to try to eat better, especially when you suffer from conditions you cannot explain, as with chronic fatigue, which could be alleviated by simply avoiding certain foods. And even though Brinkmann explains that he is not totally against introspection and even though I agree with him that you should look for new information to solve problems, I have trouble telling myself that I should stop analyzing what I think and feel. Even though I admit that this is not always useful and that it can be an exercise in pure masochism, can you really change this tendency? Introspection is in the end a matter of temperament; I know people that live very well without questioning what they do, say or feel, but I don’t want, nor do I think I can change this about myself. I think that you should avoid getting carried by passion and feelings in your daily behavior, to act with dignity more than with authenticity, like Brinkmann says. But I don’t think it is possible to internalize that.

Still, I believe that the book has good arguments on how, in these times of uncertainty, in which jobs and human relationships are becoming disposable, self-help can become a method to accept this situation instead of wanting to change it. Self-help directs the responsibility or even guilt to the individual: if you are not capable of being happy in this world, you are the problem, not this world where actually nothing works. And this tendency to always focus on yourself makes you forget your responsibility towards the collectivity and towards the future generations; you feel less remorse for not engaging in changing anything in the city, the country or the world. A few months ago, I had to do research on IKEA, the Swedish home furniture store, and in the end, I reached the same conclusion than with “Hygge” or “cocooning”: by focusing only on decorating your home and staying in, the outside world can fall into pieces; you forget your responsibility towards society.

And well, I think I will take a break on this wanting to constantly improve myself. Brinkmann says that the problem is not wanting to be better, is wanting to be better just because, without necessarily knowing for which purpose. Improving yourself can become as senseless as accumulating more and more money. And maybe he’s right about literature. These last few years I haven’t felt too much interest for novels, and right now I really want to read feminist essays and books on writing (since I’m in the writing phase of my thesis). But if something bothers me, I will maybe turn to novels before other books. Although I reserve my right to change my mind.